The Federal Communications Commission (Commission) is required to report annually to Congress on the state of competition in the mobile services marketplace, pursuant to section 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act. In June 2011, the Commission released the Fifteenth Report, which provided an analysis of mobile wireless market conditions during 2009 and, to the extent data were available, 2010. This year's 16th Mobile Wireless Competition Report (Sixteenth Report or Report) updates the data and analysis presented in the Fifteenth Report, and analyzes mobile wireless service market conditions during 2010 and 2011, as well as during 2012 to the extent data are available. Like the Fifteenth Report, the Sixteenth Report presents a multitude of industry data on various aspects of mobile wireless competition.

Download the 16th Report Back to 16th Report Homepage

Connected Devices Per Year

317,300,000

total connected devices in 2011.

2011 was the first year that there were more connected devices than people in the United States. The total number of connected devices has increased by 188,800,000 between the years 2009 and 2011.

Data Source: NRUF, Census, FCC

Rural Broadband Coverage

97.8%

of the rural population is covered by at least one mobile broadband provider.

Rural coverage has increased, but continues to lag that of non-rural areas where 99.9% of the population is covered by at least one mobile broadband provider.

Data Source: Mosaik CoverageRight, 2010 Census, FCC

Mobile Device Usage

500 Megabytes

of data consumption per month per user.

Monthly data consumption per user has more than tripled in the two years between 2009 and 2011 while minutes of use (MOU), messaging service messages (MSM), and texts have remained relatively constant.

Data Source: CTIA, Validas

Smartphone Penetration

55%

of mobile wireless subscribers have smartphones in 2012.

The adoption of smartphones has increased significantly over the past two years, from 25% of all mobile wireless subscribers in 2010 to 55% in 2012.

Data Source: Nielsenwire, The Nielsen Company

Monthly Bill

$47 Average

monthly wireless bill in 2011.

The average local monthly bill has declined over the last 18 years, from more than $61 in 1993 to $47 in 2011.

Data Source: CTIA

Wireless Only

34% of Adults

live in wireless-only households in 2012.

The percent of adults living in wireless-only households in 2012 has increased significantly; from 3.1% of all adults in 2003 to 34% in 2012.

Data Source: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey

Mobile Wireless Industry Revenues

$171.28 Billion

in 2011.

While voice still dominates wireless industry revenues it has begun to decline over the past 4 years. During that time text and data revenues have nearly doubled from $32.33 billion to $62.74 billion.